Follow the makers instructions.

We are now into April, time still is moving on even though things are so different from previous April 1st s.  As we become more used to the fact that we have to stay at home for the time being there have been lots of ideas springing up about what to do with the time.  There is a great you-tube clip of a family giving their version of One More Day from Les Miserables, or the street that comes out and sings and dances together, keeping their distance of course. Lots of craft ideas are being shared, I particularly liked one making mice out of an egg box. Some in our family have decided to have a go at watercolours. Unlike me who just splashes the paint on trying to "draw" something from memory, they have followed some instructions on how to paint feathers. The results are far better than my splash it on and hope for the best technique.

In a number of places in the Bible God gives his people instructions to follow, it is when they do not follow them, that things go wrong. The book of Leviticus is full of them! To the modern eye some will seem strange and archaic, but for those times, they might have been very relevant and important. There was a good reason that you did not eat certain foods back then, as they were the most likely to make you ill.

Today we still have our instructions from God. Perhaps for me these are best summed up in the Methodist Communion service for Lent which starts:

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: ' The first commandment is, " Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." The second is this, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." There is no other commandment greater than these.' 'I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.'

May God help us all to follow these "instructions".

He will cover you with his feathers.
    He will shelter you with his wings.
    His faithful promises are your armour and protection.
 Psalm  91:4

Loving God

In Jesus you showed us 
just how much you love us.

We thank you for that love today
surrounding us wherever we are.

We pray that the same love 
will surround those in need today
and those at work today.

Help us to love you with
all that we are
and hear your word to us today
as we seek to follow your
commandment to love one another.

Amen